zaterdag 25 augustus 2012

Title: James and the Giant Peach
Author: Roald Dahl
Story: When poor James Henry Trotter loses his parents in a horrible rhinoceros accident, he is forced to live with his two wicked aunts, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. After three years he becomes "the saddest and loneliest boy you could find." Then one day, a wizened old man in a dark-green suit gives James a bag of magic crystals that promise to reverse his misery forever. When James accidentally spills the crystals on his aunts' withered peach tree, he sets the adventure in motion. From the old tree a single peach grows, and grows, and grows some more, until finally James climbs inside the giant fruit and rolls away from his despicable aunts to a whole new life. James befriends an assortment of hilarious characters, including Grasshopper, Earthworm, Miss Spider, and Centipede--each with his or her own song to sing.
Start: august 21st 2012
End: august 25th 2012
Comment: The idea is again very original. A peach that starts growing because of magic seeds. The start of the story is a bit slow, but when the peach starts growing it's another joyful read. James is the leading character in the story and he's a sweet boy. He has to put up with a lot because he lives with his terrible aunts, which is typical for Roald Dahl's books. Most of the time the adults in the book aren't the most pleasant characters. Like the three farmers from "The Fantastic Mr. Fox", the two aunts both had completely different looks. They make James do all the nasty work and he never gets to be a kid. I liked the gang James met inside the peach. Like the centipede and the spider. Real fun. My favorite part is when the peach hits the ocean. Some exciting things happen there. And I loved the ending, because James got his dream. Roald Dahl did a great job with this book.
Rating: 4,5/ 5